3 Bdrm House and How We Would Arrange the Rooms with 2 Kids

As you say the baby could stay with you for awhile. I don't like kids sleeping a floor below me, so if and when the time came to move someone downstairs, I would move myself downstairs.

We live in a two bedroom place and my kids still share a room. They are 4(boy) and 7(girl). My daughter was in with me until my son was born, then I slept in the other room with him for a few weeks, then went back in with my daughter. When he was sleeping well through the night, I put them together and they have been together ever since. I tired moving my son in with me at one point when my daughter asked for her own room, but it didn't work out and they are back together now. I just bought a loft bed as their room is tiny and the two beds fill it up completely with no space to even walk in there. I am going to put my daughter in the loft and put my son's mattress on the floor under it when it comes. I am hoping that gives them some more space in the room. Right now they can not play in there as it is all beds. So having said all that, i would put the baby in with you, and when the baby is old enough move them in together. My kids adjusted quickly to someone else sleeping with them in the same room. Now they like it and my son won't fall asleep until my daughter comes in to bed and then he is out within a minute or two literally. So it works out just fine. Let them share a room until it doesn't work anymore. And then think about re-arranging things.

I shared a room with my sister until I was 13. There were 5 of us in a 4 bedroom house and my grandparents lived with us for 4 months out of every year, so two of us always shared! It wasn't a huge deal, but were were all girls.

Just a suggestion, but as long as they are both of the same sex, I would have the two share a room until it becomes an "issue". You can do two twin beds (depending on the size of the room) or one day bed with a trundle (this is what my sisters chose when I moved into my own room and they shared). It really saved space and it worked out well when there were sleepovers too!

My aunt and uncle have a Cape similar to what you are describing and they have both girls in one room upstairs with their room upstairs as well. The downstairs room is an office/guest room with a pull-out couch. It works for them.

I am not of the belief that children need their own rooms (if they are the same gender), but then again I don't really think that a computer needs its own room either! IF the downstairs room is big enough to accommodate your furniture and a desk for your paperwork, then go for it. If not, then leave things as they are until there is a need to change!

Oh- and once the baby sleeps through the night waking eachother up is less of an issue. So, it's really only the first few months that the baby would bunk in with you guys!

kids in seperate rooms upstairs parents downstairs

I have a townhouse that has kitchen and living room / dining room on first floor, master bedroom and den / laundry area on 2nd floor, and 2 bedrooms and a bathoom on 3rd floor. My kids are 6 mos and almost 4. We have not had any issues with them having their rooms upstairs from us. Baby slept in our room until 3 months but then in his own crib since then. Once baby can climb out of crib or is in a toddler bed, we will gate his door at night (rather than the stairs) so he can't leave his room on his own but the 4 year old still can.

So my vote is kids upstairs, parents downstairs :)

I would put them in the same room until they ask for their own room.

You'd be surprised what a toddler can sleep through. She will get used to the sounds of the baby and sleep right through it.

My vote?
Kids upstairs.
Parents downstairs.

We have the same set up with our cape cod. We keep the kids upstairs with us for safety reasons too. Plus, we need that room downstairs as we use it as our dining room. :) We have all 3 kids in one room and us in the other room.

I, say, all kids AND parents on the same floor due to safety (fire, intruders).

Find a way to make it work.

Is there a large alcove or utility closet upstairs that you could later turn into a 3rd bedroom upstairs. Later when the kids want their own rooms you could figure this out upstairs so everyone is all together.

We live in a Cape Cod. We are all upstairs. My boys (18 months apart) share a room. The first 6 months my younger son was in the room with us, after that he moved in with his brother. They wake up & fall asleep at different times, yet rarely disturb each other. Even when they have a nightmare & scream for me in the middle of the night, the other kids sleeps right through it.
A few months ago my boys were watching a tv show (I think Caillou) & they noticed that the kids were not sharing a bedroom. They told me they thought that was sad & they wondered why the kids weren't sharing. They asked if the kids were lonely at night. So, my boys really enjoy sharing their room.
As for the sex of the new baby....it doesn't matter at this age. My oldest is 5, so I'm not sure what age it would begin to matter. But both my boys would run around the house naked (even with guests present) if I let them. They have no concept of privacy yet. As for noticing that boys and girls have different body parts, that would happen with the first diaper change, so again, I don't understand why people feel the need to separate kids by sex at this age.
Finally, remember you can always rearrange rooms at any time, so don't stress too much about it.

A friend of mine has the same set up only 2 bedrooms downstairs. Her boys have their own rooms downstairs and her and the husband have the two bedrooms upstairs. If I had that set up the children would be upstairs and hubby and I would be downstairs.

Kids share the room downstairs until they get old enough to get themelves out an upstairs window in the event of a fire. You go upstairs. Please. I will spare you anymore detail.

Aside from that, little kids can fall down the stairs in the middle of the night, even with a gate. And if your bathroom is on the main floor, potty training will go much easier. Plus, lugging an infant up and down the stairs is taxing.

I like how you have this set up. I think that being on the same floor as your kids is important.

Go for #2. When that child is sleeping in their crib then you can rearrange the bedrooms to put you and dad downstairs. That way the 22 month old will be 3 and can do the stairs just fine on their own even in the dark of night.

Even if you got pregnant today it would be May before you had the baby, the 22 month old would be 3. Add a few months to that and set a time line of that fall to rearrange the rooms. That's over a year away. That gives you plenty of time to think it through and to see how you feel about a baby sleeping upstairs in their own room or if you want to wait until the baby is a year old to do that. Then it would be nearly 2 years before you'd have to think about how you want the room and you'd have a pre-k child and a toddler. I think that might work better too. That way if it is an especially cold winter you would not be worried if the upstairs is too cold or too hot for the baby.

If they both kids are the same sex then I would put them both in one room upstairs with you, but if they are not then I would put kids upstairs, parents downstairs. My parents had it setup that way with my brother and I upstairs and their bedroom downstairs. Right now I am living in a one level home with 3 bedrooms and I sometimes wish my kids were either both girls or both boys so I could put them in the same room.

Children sharing upstairs - whether same sex or not, parents upstairs, more living room downstairs.

We have our bedroom downstairs and the girls' rooms upstairs. Works just fine for us.

Kids upstairs in their own rooms. Parents downstairs. But I would not make that switch till they're both over 2. (JMO)